Meanwhile, a politican said the 42-second clip looks like an audition video for 'The Godfather.'

Comedian Ricky Gervais likened the now-viral clip to a hostage video, while Australia’s deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, said it looks like an audition video for The Godfather.

They were among a slew of people who mocked the 42-second video, made by the couple on Monday as penance for smuggling their dogs into Australia last year. But the mentions by celebrities and social media reaction likely has had the desired effect: drawing eyeballs and attention to Australia’s stringent quarantine rules. Just 24 hours after the video was released as part of a court-sanctioned apology, it had 1.67 million views on the Australian Department of Agriculture’s YouTube channel. And that was excluding the wide replays on news media sites and social media globally.

It has been reported that the pair made the video after they arrived in Australia on Sunday before their court appearance Monday.

Gervais was one of the first to respond when the video was made public on Monday, after Heard pled guilty in the Australian court to falsifying immigration documents, while not having a conviction recorded.

The Guardian, meanwhile, called the video a “terrifying insight into state mind control.”

Joyce, who famously threatened to euthanize Depp and Heard’s dogs Pistol and Boo last year when it was found that they’d entered the country illegally, told Australian breakfast TV: "I don't think he'll get an Academy Award for his performance." He added: "As far as me directing this atrocious movie, no, even I could have done a little better than that."

However, the politician admitted that the video is doing what it was meant to do -- draw attention to the issue. "At the end of it, we've got a message that is going all around the world right now, it's going off like a frog in a sock telling people that if you come into this nation and you don't obey our laws, you're in trouble," Joyce said.